nov. (Monotremata, Ornithorhynchidae), from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia. Modern adult platypuses don’t have teeth to compare the fossil to. Bibliographic information: Pian R et al. [6], The tooth was placed into the newly erected genus Obduron when described in 1975 by American palaeontologists Michael O. Woodburne and Richard H. Tedford. Description of the skull and non-vestigial dentition of a Miocene platypus (, Lake Ngapakaldi to Lake Palankarinna Fossil Area, "Fossil of giant platypus unearthed in Riversleigh", "New information about the skull and dentary of the Miocene platypus Obdurodon dicksoni, and a discussion of ornithorhynchid relationships", "Giant Platypus Found, Shakes Up Evolutionary Tree", "Extinct 'Godzilla' platypus found in Australia - Yahoo News UK", "Giant extinct toothed platypus discovered", "Tharalkoo's child: an ugly duckling story. M. Archer, F. A. Jenkins, S. J. 2013. The modern platypus completely lacks teeth as an adult and instead bears horny pads in its mouth; Obdurodon tharalkooschild is unlikely to have been its immediate ancestor. The name was chosen in honour of an indigenous Australian creation story – bbc.com Looking more like it should belong to a duck, the platypus’s beak is rubbery and contains horny plates with which it can grind up the small invertebrates it finds underwater. The skull's profile is comparatively flatter than similar species, and as with crocodilians, this may indicate more foraging or feeding at the surface of the water. They appeared much like their modern day relative the platypus, except adults retained their molar teeth. Obdurodon tharalkooschild (reconstruction illustrated) was a giant toothed platypus from the the World Heritage fossil deposits of Riversleigh, Australia. Obdurodon is represented by three species: Obdurodon insignis is an extinct species of ornithorhynchid monotreme discovered in the Tirari Desert in central Australia. Obdurodon tharalkooschild is believed to have been carnivorous and estimated to be twice the size of the modern platypus at one metre long. Despite its insignificant size, it indicates to Pian and her co-authors that the ancient platypus who grew it, Obdurodon tharalkooschild, must have been huge – at least twice the size of our modern platypus. nov. (Monotremata, Ornithorhynchidae), from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia. [12] A new, giant platypus, Obdurodon tharalkooschild, sp. It also indicates something even more critical: the platypus family tree had branches. Mauro20. This is an artist’s reconstruction of Obdurodon tharalkooschild. The Obdurodon differed from modern platypuses in that adult individuals retained their molar teeth (in the modern platypus, individuals lose all of their teeth upon reaching adulthood). [12], The living animal is assumed to be very similar in form to a modern platypus, but larger, exceeding Monotrematum in size and length. ", This page was last edited on 15 November 2020, at 11:42. The modern platypus is a duck-billed, venomous, semi-aquatic mammal with webbed feet and is covered in short waterproof fur. The wear patterns on the tooth are suggestive of crushing, perhaps by consuming hard-shelled animals such as turtles, rather than using a shearing action. The shape of its beak suggests that O. dicksoni sought prey by digging in the sides of rivers, whereas the modern platypus digs in the bottom of the river. [1], The name derives from Latin obduros and don, "enduring tooth", a reference to the permanency of the molars. Evidence for Obdurodon tharalkooschild was based on a single molar tooth discovered at the Two Tree Site of the Riversleigh fossil beds in northwest Queensland. The inset shows its first lower molar. It bore two premolars and three molars on each side of the lower jaw. [citation needed] Obdurodon insignis had one more canine tooth (NC1) than its ancestor Steropodon galmani.[1]. Obdurodon tharalkooschild is thought to have inhabited fresh water and hunted for a variety of animal prey in the forests that dominated the … Obdurodon tharalkooschild inhabited pools and rivers in the rainforests that covered Queensland’s Riversleigh region 5–15 million years ago. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1601329. The specific name was chosen in honour of an indigenous Australian creation story for the platypus, where a duck named Tharalkoo gives birth to a chimeric creature after being ravished by a rakali. However, like O. dicksoni but unlike the modern platypus, it had more permanent dentition. "The first Tertiary Monotreme from Australia. Obdurodon comes from the Greek for “lasting (obdurate) tooth” and was coined to distinguish extinct toothed platypuses from the essentially toothless modern species. not interpreted as evidence that Ob. All Rights Reserved. Wear on the tooth shows that it probably crushed hard shells such as those of turtles. It is known from a single tooth found at the Miocene-aged Two Tree Site fossil beds in Riversleigh in Queensland, Australia. They also believe that it was twice the size of the modern platypus at one metre long. O. dicksoni's beak has an oval hole surrounded by bones in the center, whereas the platypus' beak has a V-shape and no longer surrounded by bones. Obdurodon tharalkooschild Pian et al. The coronoid and angulary processes of O. dicksoni have quite disappeared in the platypus, leaving the platypus's skull flat on the sides. Obdurodon tharalkooschild, which was found in North-west Queensland (an area absent of modern Platypuses) was over a meter long and had teeth. It grew from it's already enormous size to even bigger, and soon started to rule the seas and coast. [8], The holotype is the front molar of the upper right jaw, corresponding to the M2 molar, with the unusual character of six roots. Until now, all ornithorhynchid material recovered from Riversleigh, despite variation in size (Archer et al., 1992; Musser and Archer, 1998), has been referred to … In the Dreamtime, Tharalkoo was a head-strong young female duck. Resembled the related modern platypus at one metre long column or surface it would have resembled a larger... Have teeth to compare the fossil to published in 1992 by Michael Archer, Jenkins S.! At the Miocene-aged two Tree Site fossil beds in Riversleigh in Queensland, Australia this whole story.! They grow up and they are never replaced [ 1 ], O. insignis is thought to have present. 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